Hempseed is the seed of the hemp plant used to make rope and was introduced to the UK as a fishing bait by European refugees in World War One. It was originally used only to catch roach but over the years anglers have discovered many other species are addicted to the little black seeds and although, because of its small size, it is rarely used as a hookbait for other species it is a deadly feed for species like barbel, chub and carp. In fact nowadays more hempseed is used as a feed for other fish than for its original use as a roach bait par-excellence.
Until the end of the nineties it was only available as a dry seed that had to be cooked before it could be used, although some shops sold it pre-cooked, but now many companies produce it in tins ready to use which makes it a much more convenient, if more expensive, proposition these days. Anglers who use it in large quantities, such as specimen barbel and carp anglers, still prefer to buy it dry in sacks and cook it themselves to save money as do many roach anglers to ensure it is cooked exactly right.
Preparing Hempseed
Put about 3 pints of water to one pint of dry hempseed into a saucepan with a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda and bring to the boil stirring occasionally to ensure all the seeds sink. Then turn down the heat and simmer for about half an hour when the seeds will start to split revealing the white insides. If you are intending to use it as a hookbait for roach you have to be very careful not to overcook it so you need to check it carefully now. What you are looking for is the point where the seeds are just beginning to split, a few grains will be fully closed, a few will be fully open but the majority will be just split and ideal for the hook. If you are just using it for feed it is not that important and you can cook it a bit longer so all the seeds have split.
Once the hemp is cooked drain the water off it, keep the oily hempy water though as it is excellent for mixing groundbait with, and rinse the seeds in cold water before storing in airtight polythene bags. It freezes well so you can cook it in large quantities and freeze it in pint bags for later sessions.
Hooking Hempseed
For roach fishing choose a grain that is just beginning to split, with only the merest glimpse of the white interior visible, push the bend of a fine wire size 18 hook into the split making sure the shank is on the same side of the grain as the ‘eye’ of the seed, the blunt end where it was attached to the plant rather than the pointy end, then push the shank up and into the ‘eye’. If your hemp is cooked right you will feel it click into place as it locates between the two halves of the seed which grip the shank and hold the hook on. Make sure the hook point is showing though because if it is buried in the grain you can’t hit a bite.
Although it isn’t often used as a hookbait for bigger species some big fish men have come up with a method of presenting the tiny seeds on big enough hooks and strong enough line to land big carp and barbel. This consists of a lump of a sticky substance (charmingly called ‘bogey’) tied to a hair rig to which lots of grains of hemp are pushed into to give what looks like a ball of grains of hempseed. It’s a fiddly job but has caught some big fish over the years.
Colours and Flavours
Hempseed is naturally full of rich oily flavours but as with all things in fishing anglers searching for an edge tried to ‘improve’ hemp by adding flavours and colours. It is debatable whether any of these actually improve the natural pulling power of the seeds but coloured and flavoured hempseed does catch fish with red being the favourite colour (it is the white interior that takes the colour rather than the black outer shell) and spicy curry and chilli flavours most popular. Simply add your chosen flavour and/or colour to your cooking water before cooking or simply buy pre-flavoured hemp in tins.
Hempseed Tips
1 - Always keep your hempseed in water when fishing. If it dries out it will float.
2 - A quick way of preparing dry hemp is in a flask. Pop some seeds in the flask and half fill it with boiling water before putting the lid on and leaving overnight. In the morning you will have cooked hempseed. Be aware that hemp swells a lot as it cooks so don’t overfill the flask.
3 - Little and often is the best way to feed hempseed when targeting roach. 6 - 12 grains a cast keeps the roach queuing up for more and makes the bites easier to hit.
4 - To prevent shot bites - where the fish mistake the shot for a grain of hemp - use styl weights or stotz down the line rather than round shot.
Great site Im just getting back into fishing with my sons so I am learning the art again ….a lot has changed since my day it seems that the fish have a more educated pallet and the kit has moved on from basic rod n reel to an all out campagin set up….all good fun!!
Notify me of followup comments via e-mail
Home
Contact
Forums
RSS Feed
Jason
